Bhubaneswar: SEN Globe, a dedicated department at the KiiT International School that imparts education to students with special needs, completed one year on Friday. To commemorate the occasion, a special programme was organised, which was attended by the President of KIIT and KISS, Smt Saswati Bal.
Chairperson of KiiT International School, Mona Lisa Bal said the Special Education Needs (SEN) Department was started with only seven students and 15 teachers. Today SEN has strength of 85 students, 38 special educators and 12 therapists (Cognitive, Occupational, and Speech) who are working with those students who have been denied access to their rights in many places. The objective of the Department is inclusion, making the students read, write and understand information, she said.
Out of the 85 Students enrolled under SEN GLOBE, significant progress has been achieved among the students jumping from one level to another. Six students have come to level 3 from level 4 and one student from level 3 to level 2. With continuous cooperation from the parents along with the hard work of our SEN Teachers, 12 students could be successful in the CBSE Board Examination 21-22.
One of the successful examples is that of Ayush Nayak, who got the opportunity for pursuing undergraduate studies in South Africa after scoring 90 per cent in the CBSE in the Grade 12 examination, said Dr Sanjay Suar Director & Principal KIIT International School.
Amongst the regular teaching-learning process, SEN Global has conducted developmental programmes such as Capacity building training for teachers and therapists on understanding special needs and addressing them strategically.
Other programmes included 15 days of training on Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and Learning Disability (LD), said Advisory Board member SEN Globe Dr Prayash Rath. An ongoing Sensitization program is also being conducted for different stakeholders in the school.
Life skills activities such as introducing shopping, Yoga, Greeting card making, Decorating Diyas, T-Shirt painting, Making Photo stand and Pen Stand and Making Paper bags have also been conducted, said Advisory Board Member SEN Global Ms Gargi Bhattacharya.
“We are indeed learning a lot from the journey that we are continuing and we are determined to make it a meaningful one. With optimism, we are being acknowledged already and now we need to be accepted with dignity,” said Advisory Board Member Ms Swagatika Samantaray.